The Roseburg Resources Company, announced on Sept. 18 that all of their private timber lands in Oregon and California are temporarily closed to all public recreational access, effective immediately.

According to the release, the action is “due to the increasingly extreme forest fire danger currently threatening its timberlands.”

Sept. 15 was the first day of buck season for rifle hunters in Siskiyou County and the closure is likely to interfere with the plans of many hunters planning hunts on Roseburg property. The company usually allows non-motorized access to their properties for such recreational activities.

Phil Adams, a spokesman for the company, said the action is only temporary. He said the closure will be lifted as soon as the region gets enough rain to ease the fire risk, though recreators should wait until the company makes an official announcement that the closure is lifted before attempting to access Roseburg land.

“We’re looking at an extremely hot, dry extended forecast right now and it’s already been a very active fire season, so far,” said Adams.

He said this is not the first time Roseburg has resorted to this type of closure. In 2007, the company closed all of their Oregon properties to public access due to extreme fire danger, though Adams was unaware of the history of closure in California.

“I wasn’t involved with forest management in California at that time so I’m not sure of the exact history there,” Adams said, adding, “We’re just looking for some cooperation from the public on this, right now.”